Iron ore price, page-31899

Bullish BHP boss predicts extended wave of stimulus

Peter KerResources reporter
May 18, 2021 – 6.32pm

BHP chief executive Mike Henry has poured fuel on talk of a new commodities super-cycle, predicting that government stimulus will continue to bolster demand for raw materials for an extended period.
Mr Henry said BHP was capitalising on record iron ore and copper prices and revealed the company’s $US3.06 billion spend on Western Australia’s South Flank iron ore project was about to bear fruit with first production due “in the next few days”.

BHP chief Mike Henry is bullish about commodity prices. Bloomberg
At $US217.77 per tonne on Monday, iron ore prices remain 13 per cent above the previous boom-time high in 2011 and copper prices on Tuesday were just 2 per cent below last week’s record of $US4.83 per pound.
Mr Henry told the Bank of America Metals Mining and Steel conference that a wave of government stimulus in response to the coronavirus pandemic was not over.
“The outlook for our commodities is compelling,” he said.

“Government stimulus and pro-growth agendas, which are expected to remain in place for an extended period, are anticipated to lead to robust growth, a lift in inflation and solid demand for mineral resources and oil and gas.
“We are optimistic for the future. We believe the world can both decarbonise and achieve the higher living standards that people aspire to. We are at the centre of both these aims.”
South Flank has been delivered on schedule despite the challenges posed by disrupted international supply chains and WA’s hot labour market.
Numerous other miners, including Mineral Resources, Fortescue Metals and St Barbara, have blamed WA’s hot labour market for cost blowouts or production downgrades.


Aside from replacing exhausted iron ore mines, South Flank will increase BHP’s proportion of higher-margin iron ore products like lump ore.
Rio Tinto has an unprecedented number of new iron ore mines coming into production in WA over the next 12 months, most notably the $US2.6 billion Gudai-Darri mine.
A Rio spokesman on Tuesday reaffirmed the schedule for Gudai-Darri to deliver first production in “early 2022”.
Rio asked WA regulators in March for permissions to install a temporary crusher at Gudai-Darri to “assist with accelerated ramp up” of the mine while the processing plant is being built.
The accelerated ramp up at Gudai-Darri is not expected to bring the mine into production sooner, but will enable the mine to cover for any potential shortfall if delivery of the six other new Rio mines in the Pilbara is delayed.
Rio chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the company was keen to develop the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea if it could do so affordably and in a way that fit the company’s ESG requirements.
Rio leads one of two iron ore consortia in the Simandou mountains and Mr Stausholm said the two rival consortia needed to determine in the next two months whether they could cooperate on transport infrastructure for their adjacent mining projects.